Control



April 20, 1937. c GEER ET AL 2,077,924

CONTRQL Filed April 8, 1950 y j M M, M J

ATTORNEYS.

Patented Apr. 20, 1937 v UNITED STATES "PA ENT OFFICE:

search Corporatiom-New haven, Conn, a corporation or Connecticut Application Apr-ii s, 1930, Serlal no. 442,560

a clause. 401. 177-329) This invention relates to 'a control having functionally and structurally improved characterist cs.

Subject matter specific to the structure shown in Figure 2, is claimed in application S. N. 69,622 filed March '19, 1936, as a division of the present application. Subject matter speciflc to the structure of Figure 1 is claimed in application S. N. 69,623 filed March 19, 1936 which is also a division of the present application.

. It is an object oi' the invention to construct a mechanismoi this character which will be ca- 'pable of advantageous use in numerous diiferent associations but-which has been primarily. devel- 16 oped to provide a vehicle actuated control and v ably yieldable plates which may readily be flexed when utilized in this connection being of major value when associated with a traffic control system. 7

A further object of the invention is that of 20 providing a mechanism operable by a control and fwhereby a predetermined functioning of this mechanism isachieved only in the case of the control being operated in a predetermined manner. Accordingly, by means oi. the present in- 25 vention, any difdculties which might be experienced incident to a functioning of the mechanism regardless of the operation of the control are avoided.

A. still further object is that of providing struc- 30 tures of this character capable in certain respects of independent use but primarily adapted for cooperative functioning and which structures will involve relatively few parts individually simple and rugged in construction and capable of ready 35 assemblage and set-up to furnish mechanisms operating over long periods of time with freedom from electrical and mechanical dimculties.

With. these and further objects in mind, reference is had to the attached sheet of drawings 40 illustrating practical embodiments of the invention; and in which:

Fig; 1 is a diagrammatic illustration of a vehicle actuated control;- 7

Fig. 2 is a similar. view of the :control mass); 45 ciation with the mechanism to be operated thereby; and

Fig. 3 shows a slightly different layout of the system from that illustrated in Fig. 2.

Referring to Figs. 1 and 2 of the drawing there- 50 is shown a schematicembodimentof an impulse relay mechanism constructed in accordance with our invention and connected to a mechanism to be contr lled. For the purpose of illustrating a practical embodiment of the invention, a mech- 55 anism to be controlled is indicated by the letter S and may be for example a timer or an automatic traiilc counter constructed and arranged to count vehicles moving along a highway.

The road unit I conveniently includes a body located in the street so as to be actuated by a vehicle passing over the device and causing contacts to be made in a predetermined manner. One novel feature of the invention is that these contacts 'rnay be connected to be effective to control the circuits only when the vehicle moves over the unit in a certain direction.

In the illustrated embodiment of our invention this unit includes three separate contact members 2, 3 and l insulated from each other by spacer members 5. These contact members are preferinto contact with each other as the vehicle passes over the device. within a resilient moisture and waterproof envelope or casing indicated by the numeral 9. The contact plates 2, 9 and 4 are connected in circuit to a suitable source of electrical energy by means of lead wires 7, 8 and 9 respectively.

Connected in circuit with the switch members are electro-magnets l9 and it provided with armatures i2 and I3 respectivelyfor opening and closing circuits as hereinafter described. Disposed adjacent the armature I! are double contacts l4 and i5, a single contact l8 being pro- -vided adjacent the armature I 3. Magnet l0 and armature i3 are connected in circuit with plate 2 by means of leads 8 and I1, and magnet II is The entireassemblage is located connected in circuit with plate 3 and armature |2 by means of leads 9 and 20. The designated unit S to be'controlled by the operation of the. several switchmembers may, 8; shown in Fig. 2, be connected in circuit. therewith by means of lead wires l8 and i9.

Having thus described one relay mechanism constructed in accordance with our invention, the operation thereof is as follows: Assuming thatthe switch mechanism is located in a street pavement wherein it is 'desired to record the presence of vehicles passing only in the direction indicated by the arrow, the circuits for operating the counter or timer will be completedin' the following manner. A passing vehicle wheel engages plate 2 and deflects it as indicated by the dotted line, Fig. 2, so as to contact with plate 4 thereby energizing relay II and causing armature I! to engage contact I! and supply current to unit S by lead wire l9. When the vehicle proceeds further over the unit,the gap is closed between plates} and 3 by the engagement of the latter with plate 4, and power is supplied embodiment of a to "8 via plate 3, and leads 9 and It; thus causing it to operate and register the impulse created by the passing vehicle. As the vehicle continues along the unit, contact between plates 2 and 4 is broken and magnet I0 is deenergized, thereby causing armature l2 to interrupt the circuit l9,

and the mechanism is again at its normal condition of rest.

From the foregoing, it will be noted that the impulse for operating the unit S is effected by the predetermined order in which contact is made 7 between the plates 2; 4 and 3. To further illuspleted so as to produce an operative impulse' trate' the operation of the device: If a vehicle should approach in a direction opposite to that indicated by the arrow, plate 3 first makes contact with plate 4 and thereby energizes relay Ii which causes armature is to interrupt the circuit H. to magnet I ll. As the vehicle proceeds and causes plate 2 to also engage plate 4, the circuit to magnet ll remains unchanged and thereby prevents relay ill from becoming energized and thus the circuit I9 to the counter cannot be com- After the vehicle has passed off the unit i, the circuit conditions return to normal without producing any efiects on the mechanism 5".

From the above description, it will be notedthat it is necessary that the relays I0 and ll be successively energized in a predetermined order so as to permit an electrical impulse to operate the counter mechanism. Thus, we have provided a simple and efilcient mechanism which shall accurately register vehicles passing over the device in only one direction.

Referring to Fig. 3, it will be observed that the same layout has been illustrated as that shown in Fig. 2 with the exception that the unit S is not connected directly into the operating circuit. More particularly, it will be noted that the'circuit breaker 22 controlling the flow of current through leads 23 is coupled in this view to be closed when the armature I3 is attracted by the electro-magnet ll. This may be achieved by having the circuit breaker 22 within the sphere of influence of the magnet II or as has been indicated in dotted lines coupling the member 22 to the armature l3., Additionally; in this view it ll be observed that the armature iii in addition to operating with contact l6 for the purpose of closing the circuit through electro-magnet in engages a contact 24 when attracted and this contact is connected to the lead corresponding to lead 20 in Fig. 2. Obviously, the same operation as that heretofore described will follow in connection with the construction presently considered. In other words, current will not flow through the leads 23 unless the control is actuated in a predetermined manner.

The value of the present construction will be apparent when it is considered that by means of the same, a vehicle moving over a highway in a direction contrary to that in which control is to be exercised will not effect operation of the present mechanism. In other words, a vehicle which for example is on the wrong side of the road or overlaps the center thereof and has passed the intersection will not cause an actuation of the control mechanism even although it may traverse tbecontrol unit. Accordingly, no operation oi the timer and/or counter connected to this unit will follow, but the passage of the vehicle in a proper direction willimmediately result in such operation.

In this connection it will be understood that the present control has been illustrated as a road unit. According to the present invention, this is preferably the case. However, it will be appreciated that in certain aspects the control might be of another construction and conversely that the mechanism operated thereby might be of different type without eii'ectingdetrimentally the results to be obtained.

It will moreover be appreciated that numerous changes in construction and rearrangements oi the parts might be resorted to without departing from the spirit of the invention as defined by the claims.

Having described our invention, what we claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is:

1. A control system including power supply leads, a pair of circuit makers for sequential operation, a pair of relays, the first relay having one side of its coil connected to one power lead and having an operating circuit for the other side of its coil via a break contact on the second relay and via the second circuit maker to the other power lead, and having a holding circuit from said other side of its coil via a make contact operated when its coil is energized and via the first circuit maker to said other power lead,

and the second relay having one side of its coil connected to said one power lead and having an operating circuit from the other side of its coll via a break contact on said first relay and via the first circuit maker tojsaid other power lead,

and having a holding circuit from said other side of its coil via a make contact operated when its coil is energized and via said second circuit maker to said other power lead, and a register circuit operated by operation of one 01' said a break contact and armature of said first relay I and thru the coil of said second relay to said other power lead, a holding circuit for said first relay extending from said one power lead thru said first circuit maker thru a make contact and said armature of said first relay thru the coil of said first relay to the other power lead, a holding circuit for said second relay extending from said one power lead thru said second circuit maker thru a make contact and said armature of said second relay thru the coil oi said second relay to the other power lead, and a registering circuit operated solely by operation of said second relay.

3. A controlsystem including a pair of circuit makers for sequential operation, a pair 01' relays, the first circuit maker being connected across power supply leads through a break contact and armature on a first relay and the coil of a second relay, and the second circuit maker being consecond relay including a make contact on the second relay for connecting its coil via its armature in series with the second circuit maker across the power supply leads to be operated only by and during closure of 'the latter when the second relay coil is energized, a register circuit,

' and a contact on said second relay for operating said register circuit when said second relay is energized, whereby sequential operation of the operation in the opposite order prevents Operation of the register circuit only throughout the I sequence.

CHARLES D. GEER. JOHN L. BIACH. 

